Earlier this year, I was approached by the Marketing Manager of a Caribbean-based jewelry store, a brand with three locations in luxury Ritz-Carlton hotels across the Caribbean. She was also the owner’s daughter, so I knew I was already speaking to top management/top decision-maker. This is exactly the type of client I specialize in—luxury tourism businesses in the Caribbean. So initially, turning them down wasn’t even on the table. However, after a thorough review of their needs and their website, I realized I had no choice.
The client wanted me to manage a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign on their existing website. But here’s the problem: their website wasn’t set up for a successful PPC campaign. There were three major obstacles:
- Non-Targeted Pages: The site’s pages weren’t optimized for any relevant keywords. For a PPC campaign to succeed, the landing pages need to target specific search terms to reduce cost-per-click and maximize ROI. Their pages didn’t, meaning the client would end up spending more money with little return. I suggested we update the landing pages for better keyword targeting, but the client declined. They only wanted to run the PPC campaign as-is.
- Lack of Conversion Design: Even if we had managed to get visitors through the ads, the website wasn’t designed to convert those clicks into sales. The pages were more like brochures than actionable sales funnels. I recommended a redesign of the landing pages to improve conversions, but again, the client was set on launching the PPC campaign without any changes.
- Slow Website Speed: One of the biggest issues was the website’s slow loading time. In today’s digital landscape, speed is crucial—especially for a PPC campaign. A slow website leads to higher bounce rates, meaning visitors are more likely to leave before the page even loads. This not only wastes the client’s ad spend but also hurts their quality score, increasing the cost-per-click. When I raised this issue, the client didn’t want to address it.
